Nitrobenzene (NB) can seriously damage the ecosystems of water and soil as well as human health. To detect NB efficiently

a microporous luminescent metal-organic framework (MOF) with mixed ligands

Zn3-MOF

was synthesized by a solvothermal method. Compared to the reported works

the reaction time was reduced by modifying the solution concentration and ratio of reactants. The microporous structure resulting from interpenetration can be beneficial in sensing small organic molecules. Thus

the fluorescent response to commonly used organic small molecules was studied in this work. The results indicate that Zn3-MOF is highly selective towards nitrobenzene and the fluorescence quenching for NB can be visible with the naked eyes at UV 365 nm. The fluorescence intensity decreases with the increasing concentration of NB and the detection limit can reach up to 10 mg·L-1. Moreover

this MOF also shows excellent regeneration ability. Fluorescence quenching for NB may be derived from π-π reaction between the framework and NB as well as the electron transfer from the electron-donating framework to the electron-withdrawing group ( NO2) in NB. These results indicate that Zn3-MOF can be used as a high-selectivity and high-sensitivity sensor for NB.